Westside Messenger - December 6th, 2020

PAGE 2 - WESTSIDE MESSENGER - December 6, 2020
LIST YOUR
CHRISTMAS WEEK SERVICES
ON OUR CHRISTMAS CHURCH PAGE
in The Westside or
Grove City Messengers
The page will print in
our December 20th issue
The deadline for this year’s Christmas Church Page
is Friday, December 11th at 2:00 pm.
Call Kathy
for More
Information
614-272-5422
WORK INJURIES
WORKERS’
COMPENSATION
SAFETY VIOLATIONS
WRONGFUL DEATH
PERSONAL INJURY
SLIP & FALL INJURY
DOG BITE INJURY
AREA
CHRISTMAS
WORSHIP
SERVICES
Groveport Zion Lutheran Church
6014 Groveport Rd., Groveport 43125
614-836-5611
Pastor Matthew Cox
Christmas Eve Candlelight Service at 7:00 pm
Christmas Day Service at 10:00 am
SAMPLE
Communion celebrated at both services
God Bless Everyone
& Stay Safe at Home
Malek &
ATTORNEYS AT LAW
Malek
Douglas, Ed, Jim
and Kip Malek
Ben Churchhill
“Hablamos Español”
FREE Initial Consultation
www.maleklawfirm.com
614-444-7440
1227 S. High St., Columbus, OH 43206
Southwest Public Libraries (SPL) returned to nocontact
service only on Nov. 23 in light of surging
COVID-19 cases and the newest health advisories
from both county and state. These advisories identify
severe virus exposure and spread and urge residents to
stay home except for work, school, or essential services.
There will again be no public entry into SPL buildings
except entryways for no-contact pickup and limited
document services (print, copy, scan, fax). Patrons
will still be able to borrow items but through placing
hold requests for no-contact holds pickup only, a
process now easier than ever.
Unlike in the past, patrons no longer need to schedule
an appointment time to pick up held items once
notified they are in. They should simply call 15 to 20
minutes before planned arrival to allow staff time to
get items checked out, bagged, and placed on no-contact
pickup tables in the entryway.
The library will continue to accept returns only during
service hours. Hours remain:
ents of the bags to know we are thinking of them.”
The bags were delivered to a precinct on the
Westside and officers personally delivered the bags to
those in need. Becker said this is just one tactic the
police ae doing to build relationships in the community.
“Usually when people see us, it’s the worst day of
their life,” he said. “We want to see the residents we
serve on good days too. By delivering these bags to
those in need, we can strengthen those relationships
and start a dialogue with them.”
The Westside of Columbus has continued to see
increasing gun violence and overdoses. Becker hopes
by engaging with the community, they can work with
residents to prevent these issues. They also hope when
something does happen, residents will remember these
REMOTE LEARNING
Continued from page 1
increase in case counts and positivity rates and we
believed that it would soon become increasingly more
difficult to operate our schools safely.”
When Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and the state
and county public health officials announced the most
recent stay-at-home recommendations through Dec.
20, it did not mandate that schools cease in-person
instruction as it did in March when the novel coronavirus
was first introduced in the state. Instead, the
officials advised the transition take place as they have
projected another surge after the Thanksgiving holiday.
Wise said following their advice was just another
factor that played into the district’s decision to transition
back to the remote learning model.
“We have followed all state, county and federal recommendations
to slow the spread and we have seen little
community spread in our schools while in the
blended learning model,” he said. “However, all of our
students and all of our staff are members of the greater
community and now we have begun to see more
absences in our student body and our personnel. It is
becoming increasingly harder to staff our schools due
to these conditions.”
According to the most recent data posted on the district’s
COVID-19 Dashboard, there are 38 students
and 20 staff members who tested positive for the virus.
There are 306 students and 58 staff members who
were considered “close contact exposures” and are in
www.columbusmessenger.com
Westland Library returns to no-contact
HELPING HAND
Continued from page 1
• Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday from 10
a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Wednesday and Thursday from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m.
“We continue to take the health and safety of our
patrons and staff very seriously,” said SPL Director
Mark Shaw. “When we reopened for limited access last
month, we foresaw the possibility of needing to return
to no-contact service for the safety of the community
and have worked to make it as smooth yet safe as possible.”
The library will continue to offer plenty of Grab and
Go options available during no-contact service hours,
including book bundles available for borrowing plus
various take-home craft and activity kits. Virtual programming
such as storytimes, STEM Challenges, craft
tutorials, and more, will continue to be presented via
the library’s Facebook and YouTube pages.
View upcoming programs and kits, find updates, or
access SPL’s digital library –available 24/7 and offering
eBooks, eAudiobooks, eMagazines, music, movies,
and more – at swpl.org.
interactions and be more willing to talk to the police.
“People are getting away with murder because
neighbors don’t want to talk to us,” Becker said.
“People see things going on, but they don’t want to talk
to the police. We need to build trust with this community,
then when something happens, they are more
willing to help us.”
The Sahara-Columbus Club plans to continue to
find ways to help those in need during the pandemic
and beyond.
“I wanted my kids to know that there is a big world
out there and there are people in need,” Kancharlapalli
said. “Everyone faces different challenges and don’t
have the same opportunities. You can’t make a difference
if you aren’t willing to help.”
isolation or quarantine. Those numbers also include
the students and educators who are participating in
the Virtual Learning Academy.
Wise said student and staff absenteeism was
expected during this pandemic and the district did
take measures to mitigate extended absences from
educators. He added that the issue the district is currently
facing is finding substitute teachers to fill in for
those absences.
“That is another reason why we have decided to
transition back to the remote learning model,” he said.
“It is getting harder to find substitutes who are as willing
to fill in as we had in the past.”
With the transition back to remote learning for the
remainder of the year, Wise said he is hopeful that the
beginning of 2021 will see more favorable conditions
and a return to the blended learning model. However,
he did not commit to having the students and staff
back in the classroom come the week of Jan. 4.
“We have to take a wait and see approach and follow
the recommendations of the public health officials,”
he said.
He added that the district will provide an update on
Dec. 17 regarding future scheduling plans.
In related news, all extra-curricular and co-curricular
performances, contests, and scrimmages are canceled
until Dec.17. District officials said they will
reevaluate this decision at that time.